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Thanks Sophable - just what I wanted to hear. Didn't know it was so common. Got a bit freaked when the dr needed to call her colleague in to come and have a look. Thanks for the reassurance, didn't know it was so common!

8 months and still looks MASSIVE (is just on one side). We're due to go back at 1 year if it hasn't resolved just as a check. We had a paed's appointment at the hospital and are due to go back at 1 year if it hasn't resolved (but the paed said tbh they'll just give it a quick check over and then ask to see us again in another 6 months).

I keep telling myself that if it was serious they wouldn't leave it for 6 months

good. we freaked out when our midwife said we should have it checked out. i think the reason they're careful when checking is that there is a totally unrelated condition (a torsion) which is a bit more serious and needs operating on sooner than later...did they shine a torch through his little bollock (sorry about the terminology )...that is what they were checking for. hydroceles are not dangerous as if they don't resolve themselves (and the vast majority do) they are totally operable. so glad to be able to reassure about something

Hydroceles come about from when little boys are in the womb.There is tubes in the lower abdomen where the testicles descend into the scrotum,the tubes should wither away after the testes descend but sometimes they dont which allows fluid to run down them collecting in the scrotum, resulting in a hydrocele.
Can you tell ds had one LOL.Sometimes they can be mistaken for inguinal hernias.If they dont go away by them selves the operation is simple and only takes a few minutes,they seal off the tube and drain away the fluid and it never reoccurs.Ds had the op as his didnt go and they werent totally sure it wasnt a hernia.HTH

A friend of mine has this. It doesn't affect him at all (no, I have no idea what it looks like in an adult, we're good enough friends for him to have mentioned it in relation to our children, but not good enough friends for him to show me - or for me to want to see 'it') but it is supposed to reduce fertility because the affected testicle is slightly warmer due to the extra blood around it. Didn't seem to affect my friend's fertility though!